28 April 2011

I went for it last week and painted the front door black, and then I applied the vinyl address I ordered even though the instructions suggested I let the paint "cure" for 3 weeks before doing so. I am impatient and haphazard when it comes to projects, I guess, which is why I took photos as the evening was rolling in tonight--the paint dried in all sorts of different textures and the door still needs some work. But I'm happy with the overall look.

I couldn't resist the ferns outside all the stores around here for the last few weeks--I've put them in urns and pots and buckets. With all the rain we've been getting everything is so green and plush. I'll be adding some annuals to the front flower beds, maybe for some color, but I'll probably end up going with my favorite, hardy white begonias.

Another haphazard project move led to the purchase of this new rug. I worked on painting my porch swing a couple of weekends ago, just put a tarp under it and painted it on the chains. Ryan asked me to help chase Booker down for a bath and when I got back to the swing the wind had blown the tarp and dumped the can of black paint all over that end of the porch. Not thinking it all through, I used some paint remover on the black spot, which took up the paint and also took up the concrete stain. So there's a big acid washed spot under the rug, but now that I see it there it looks like I needed a rug in that area all along.

Someday I'd like to have a tree planted on this left side of the yard, something big like a sugar maple or something, and the sidewalk needs something soft and puffy like monkey grass along the edges. We've got stacked brick retaining walls at the end of the yard toward the street that really need ivy or something cascading over them, too. I've also got to replace the spiral bush on the porch swing side to match the one near the garage. It bit the dust (spider mites?) and Ryan finally pulled it up last weekend. Landscaping: so much work. Manual labor. I have to get really fired up for it and that doesn't happen very often. That or shell out for someone else to do it, and I am not at all opposed to that.

The backyard needs lots of attention, too, but it is looking better than in years past because we have the stairs off the back patio now. I put in some homemade flower beds and plan to try moonflowers trained to climb the lattice. When my neighbor's house burned down last summer he let me dig up all the hostas in his backyard before the place was bulldozed. They've come back in full force despite my hasty planting. I'll plant some annuals in with those and mulch in the next few weeks. I'll probably move those stepping stones, also salvaged from the burned house and plopped there.

More ferns flanking the doors to our storage area under the house, which people around here call a John Deere Room. I recently laid the little concrete porch, and my father-in-law is kindly constructing me the most fabulous potting bench from salvaged wood that I'll be placing nearby.

The picture of the back patio is dark but hides all the debris blown around from our last round of storms. Our house backs up to woods and it's almost impossible to keep the patio clear of all the tree droppings that fall. I moved my iron bakers rack from McKinney, Texas out back and put some dwarf Alberta spruces in planters on each side. I had envisioned twinkle lights out back since we moved in and there they are. I want to put some succulents in little pots on the rack and I'll do some votives, too.

I moved my bird feeder up here a few weeks ago and I've seen the cutest little birds flock to it. Sadly, though, I also found a mess of feathers and a streak of blood below, which I can only guess happened at the hands of my murderous outdoor cat, Maya Angelou.

While my dad was visiting this past weekend he helped Ryan put some galvanized panels along the bottoms of these screened doors leading to the porch. One of them was coming apart for some reason. They're hard to see in this dark picture, but they look like something you'd see on an old general store door, I think. Very cute, Dad!

Maybe the temperatures will hold out and the rain will hold off this weekend so I can do some planting in the window boxes I hung back here. There's still a lot of work to do at No. 5380...and that's a good thing. I get restless when there's not. I'm linking to Debra's...

27 April 2011

We had a nice Easter weekend despite the continual rain. Lane and Derek were in town and my parents came up from Rogers. We didn't do anything major, but the Easter Bunny found us...in addition to lots of chocolate, he also brought tabletop ping pong, SpongeBob swim goggles, a harmonica and a Mushable PotBellies lion.

The rain finally stopped today, but the forecast shows it will be back this weekend. I've had a busy week at school and we've got lots going on in the next few days. My cousin Julie and her family are stopping over tomorrow night on their way from OKC to a baseball tournament in Lamar, Mo. We're excited to have them...

15 April 2011

I suppose this is old news now, but I wanted to post some pictures from day three of our spring break last month, when we met my mom and dad in Atchison, about an hour from KC. We started with lunch at a charming little place called Marigolds, then made our way down the street for some shopping.

Our main purpose for choosing this little Kansas town as our rendezvous spot was for my mom and me to finally visit the famous Nell Hill's. It did not disappoint. We walked circles around the place, looking again and again, and it really did feel like falling down a rabbit hole, with one cute thing leading to another.

We both walked out with some lovely selections. I put the two big baskets in my dining room hutch. My parents' 39th wedding anniversary was the next day, and my dad picked out two plates and two red glasses for the occasion. Atchison is also the birthplace of aviator Amelia Earhart, and there are tributes to her all around town.

Macauley took off with my parents and Ryan and I headed back to Kansas City, passing the formidable federal prison in Leavenworth (it really is so big and foreboding--quite intimidating to drive by). We zoomed down flat, open roads, farmland on either side, under the puffiest clouds I think I'd ever seen. The sky seemed huge and we seemed so small...dust in the wind?

10 April 2011

You'd think I would be deterred by the messy, messy spill of the black paint I dealt with yesterday, but I'm seriously considering painting my front door black. I am especially inspired by the door with the white letters, and I think a No. 5380 in a pretty font would be the crowing touch. Hmmm...